Restaurants

After posts like: favorite coffee spots in Helsinki and Favorite Coffee Spots in Stockholm, I realized I was totally forgetting the best places to get your caffeine kick in Oslo. When you live there you kind of forget that Oslo is one of the best cities for coffee, worldwide. As I had to go to Oslo for a project last weekend, I asked one of my BFFs Ingrito take a coffee tour around Oslo with me. She is a coffee connoisseur, one of the people behindKaffikaze, co-founder of The Mile High Aeropress Club, 2nd in the World Aeropress Championship 2012, and the author of the Oslo Coffee Guide article in the latest Brygg Magazine, so I could probably not have picked a better co-pilot for this. We visited old and new coffee shops in several districts and tried a different kind of brew in each place. The verdict? The Oslo coffee scene is thriving and growing! Keep on reading to follow our journey.

Coffee from a tap!!!

1. Hendrix Ibsen

Our first stop was Hendrix Ibsen. This store is fairly new in Oslo. I remember when they opened last summer. It is located right outside of Mathallen. The owner from this place is guilty of some of the best places to have coffee in Berlin as well, like: Oslo Kaffeebar and Kaschk.

For our first coffee we decided on their Nitro Coffee on tap. it’s the only nitro brew in Oslo as far as we know. It was made with a chilled drip brew of Don Amado, a Honduran washed yellow Catuai from Kaffa. And may I say WOW! I have never had coffee that tasted like this. It was cold and minerally refreshing. I can imagine how it would taste mixed with booze, defo delicious!

In addition to the classic espresso based menu you can get hand brewed coffee, a great beer selection, and vinyl! For some months now they’ve been hosting music, cultural and food events as well. You can keep up to date on events following their facebook page.

My mega babes Ingri and Line getting in Hendrix Ibsen

Nitro Coffee from a tap

Gotta love the way their menu works.

This is one of the few multi roaster coffee spots in town. Beans for sale are often from Berlin based roasters like Five Elephant and The Barn, but also great Norwegian roasters like Kaffa, Lippe, Tim Wendelboe, and even Fuglen Tokyo. They also serve a few things to eat, and for all of you glutenfree people, they have gluten free muesli!Ingri also recommends you to try: Nitro coffee with Porter, a 50/50 blend

Oslo Coffee scene is so small... we met many friends on our tour

2. Tim Wendelboe

Our second stop, was Tim Wendelboe, a "must" when you are in Oslo. This place and its owner are an entity in the coffee world. The little coffee shop/ roastery/barista school is located in the very hip district Grüneløkka. It is beautiful decorated with scandinavian vintage furniture and has the coffee roaster is in the middle of the store. The front of the counter is made with wood from the ceiling that was there when he took over the shop in 2007.

They brew all their coffees on Aeropress, but I have to say that it was the summer coffee drinks that got me hooked. As I haven’t been there for the past 9 months, I was surprised by the new china they are using. My favorite norwegian brand Figgjo did a collaboration with Tim called Figgjo Oslo, beautiful, simple & elegant cups designed to highlight aroma in different ways based on the shape of the cup.

​We had a washed Geisha Honduras at Tim Wendelboe brewed on an Aeropress. Ingri thought it was the best geisha she has had out of all the geishas she has tried that are not from the famous farm Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama. It had a very floral aroma and a bright citrus like acidity. Jasmine, honey and lemon, mmm.

3. Supreme Roastworks

The third stop of the tour was Supreme Roastworks. This place not only has the coolest name and logo, but was my favorite spot while living in Oslo. I was there so often, that I even carved my name in one of their tables... but shhhhh! Once I tried their delicious lattes I was hooked, and spent most of my days working from one of their green hipster tables listening to great records.

Lucky for us, Odd-Steinar was working that day. He is the current world champion of black coffee brewing. He competes every year and has competed in Barista, Brewers Cup and Aeropress. He won the World Brewers Cup last year using a natural processed Ethiopian coffee with super delicious water from the Norwegian fjords.The coffee we ordered from him was Kamwangi AA, a washed SL 28 & SL 34 from Kenya, brewed on Chemex. We also got to taste his secret competition coffee brewed on V60, a very sweet and amazing brew! We wish we knew which coffee it was!

Beautiful scandi design and Former soccer player Freddy dos Santos

Current world champion of black coffee brewing: Odd-Steinar Tøllefsen

The special competition coffee was the best of the day.

My gorgeous BFF & Tour Guide

Gluten free brownie

You can have breakfast at Supreme, where there offer ranges from muesli to sandwiches with sourdough bread to an amazing banana bread cake. They have some gluten free stuff as well!

4. Java

And moving to the beautiful district of St. Hanshaugen just across the park: Java, home of the Java-Babes. I don't think there is a coffee place in Oslo with so many smiles and gorgeous baristas. I used to be a regular here as they are just next to the Gutta på Haugen delicatessen shop.

At this point of the tour we met our good friend and fellow coffee lover Helena. Java is almost her second living room. Ingri decided for a cappuccino, made with Crescendo, an espresso blend consisting of washed central American coffee, Esmeralda geisha and washed Ethiopian coffee roasted by Kaffa.

This place not only has great coffee, but the best croissant in town. I haven’t tried it, but my foodie ex boyfriend swears to it! On Fridays they have a dinner concept where one of their baristas or a guest chef cooks up a pretty spectalular dinner. Follow their social media for teasers about the friday dinner of the week. Their pour over menu always includes woodneck and chemex brews, and most of the time they will have Esmeralda geisha on there.

Two of the Java Babes

Latte art by the apprentice, still a very tasty coffee.

I can’t hold a cup but I can enjoy a cappuccino!

Java is also the home of the top three baristas from the Oslo championship last year, and it will be exciting to hear how it goes this week when they defend their honor and go for the golden ticket to the World Barista Championship.Ingri says you shouldn’t miss: Friday dinner accompanied by wines from Moestue Grape Selections. From 5-ish pm.

5. Roleur

NEXT STOP GIRLS!!!! This place very new to me, as they opened when I was living in Berlin. Rouleur is barely one year old and only 2 blocks away from Java. At first you will think it is a bicycle store or just a bar, but it is a bar and cafe obviously owned by rouleurs (A rouleur is a type of racing cyclist considered a good all-rounder. In road bicycle racing different courses favour different types of rider depending on a range of environmental conditions such as terrain, climate and distance.)

Through their interior design, big windows and benches we felt right at home. They have beautiful decorations in bronze, a foxy bar and retro lamps. And at the back area they were showing the last bike race on a projector.

We ordered the Lippe espresso nr 4, a blend of washed Rwanda and Guatemala. It was brewed on a fully manual and beautiful espresso machine called Strietman. First the machine was preheated and then brewing water was added and pressed through the basket of coffee with manual force. They even have one of these machines for sale, although it looks more like a pretty interior detail on their wall shelf.

The bar.

Strietman manual espresso machine

The Toddy Cocktail & The Espresso

Gorgeous Lippe bags designed by Henrik Placht

Ingri and Line soon discovered the interesting bar menu and the huge range of handsome men, so they decided to order a drink and enjoy the view.

They have many different kinds of events going on like release albums and cycling stuff... check their Facebook Page to be up to date.

Ingri thinks you may also fancy: 5 tap beers from Dronebrygg and Japanese tea from Tōku

6. Fuglen

We moved closer to Central Oslo to make a stop atFuglen(translates to The Bird), a more than 50 year old coffee spot. It is also a vintage Scandinavian design shop and a cocktail bar. Everything outside of the bar area can be bought (besides the Fuglen poster I really want). It is all decorated with vintage interior ranging from old teak coffee tables and leather sofas, to beautiful vases and lamps.

If you want to feel like an old school writer, their relaxed and loungy atmosphere will help you with that! And once the sun goes down, you can start ordering cocktails, beer and wine.

We went for an Ethiopian kalita brew to get something light and juicy after the espresso at Rouleur. The coffee was from Hunkute, a washed heirloom coffee roasted in Tokyo by Fuglen’s own roastery. They have two coffee bars worldwide. One in Oslo, and one in Tokyo where the they also have the Fuglen Roastery. My friend Charlotte Schreiber was just there and I am waiting to hear what she thinks of that Fuglen.

Beautiful Baristas and Bartenders

Kalita brew of Hunkute, a washed Ethiopian coffee roasted in Tokyo by Fuglen.

A relaxed atmosphere, where it’s easy to feel at home.

The latest project from the crew behind Fuglen is a newly opened shop in Tokyo for vintage Scandinavian design, called “Norwegian Icons”. In Oslo they’ve recently opened “Vingen Bar” (translates to The Wing Bar), where they also serve lunch dishes like Eggs Benedict.

Ingri suggests you to try: Japanese green tea that they import themselves, or all the delicious cocktails developed by one of Norway’s best bartenders.

7. Nor​ð & Natt

We ended our tour at Norð, located at the newest hippest district, Tøyen.Nor​ðisn’t just this one coffee bar. It's a handful of coffee bars, but also a roastery, a bakery, a restaurant and a bar. All of them in Oslo.

We ordered a filter coffee which was San Jeronimo, a washed caturra & catuai from Costa Rica, roasted by Norð. Our caffeine levels were off the charts at this point. We had also worked up an appetite for food, so we ordered some from the bistro menu, and drinks as well. I got the gluten free burger and Ingri got the beef stew with estragon. The portions were huge and it was really tasty! A perfect ending to a great day of touring the city for the best coffee.

I cant wait to be in Oslo and try their restaurant menu...

After your coffee, Ingri suggests: Try the seasonal dinner option from the bistro menu, the cocktail Dill Communication (it has sour cream!) or the Bærliner Weisse berry beer from Dronebrygg.​